Puzzle Pieces (Shadow The Hedgehog Love Story)
by ShadowEpona
Summary: A teenaged hedgehog girl discovers her past while doing top secret mission's on the side; while doing so she quickly discovers the love of her life.
1. Chapter 1-3

_Puzzle Pieces (Shadow The Hedgehog Love Story)_

_ Chapter One_

My pov~

"I need to introduce you to someone after that last mission you accomplished. I am aware of your injury, but this individual and his group are going on your next mission with you. Don't worry it's an easy one. It is a mission that shouldn't be compromised from that injury." Abraham Towers spoke solidly.

"I work alone. You know I'm solo." I sighed, rubbing my shoulder from a bullet wound.

"You have until now. I believe you will be surprised about this team. They are at the top, and I do not believe you have met any of them." He disregarded simply.

I growled under my breath, "Why do I have to be teamed up with some idiots. I've been doing everything perfectly on my own. It's just one damn injury. Nothing will be compromised." I urged.

"My word is final. Don't speak to your superiors like that. Now go train and rest up. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow." He ordered.

With an insignificant sigh, I walked back to my permanent room in the base. I stretched and tested my shoulder out some, studying when and where I felt the most pain. Finally sitting on my bed, I began reminiscing as to how I got here, and perhaps, I should treat Abraham better.

_ Two years ago:_

_ Opening my eyes I found a group of soldiers huddled around me in close proximity, asking one another questions. Slowly forcing myself into a sitting position, I continued to look at them, completely dumbfound, wondering why there were so many males. I held my head, quickly realizing that they were not friendly. Guns of many varieties were pointed all towards me, their silhouettes shimmering in the sun. _

_ "Who are you and how did you get in here?" An old man asked calmly. _

_ I looked down thinking. I reached for answers, for memories, nothing but blackness was there._

_ "Answer." He pushed fewer patients than before._

_ "I… don't know… I don't remember…" I spoke quietly, nervously, and shyly._

_ All the soldiers looked at one another before one from the crowd spoke out, "Well what are we to do Boss?"_

_ "Hmm… Well we are low on recruits…" The two eye coloured old man spoke. _

_ "But, Sir, she's a hedgehog." One of the soldiers pointed out._

_ "Hedge…hog?" I looked at myself studying and comparing the differences between the soldiers and myself. I was a tan hedgehog with red patches on my quills, having a black strong outline encasing the red, and they were all human, mostly consisting of white skinned people._

_ "We already have recruits like her. I don't see the issue." He brushed the soldier off and stood in front of me. He crouched down in front of me. "So you truly don't remember anything? Not even your name?" He questioned._

_ I closed my eyes thinking once more. "No… not really… My name… I think… maybe, it started with… a C sound…" I gripped my head getting a headache, as well as instantaneously being light headed._

_ "One of you, pick her up and follow me." He ordered. Many of the soldiers were very hesitant but one of them finally came forward and lifted me into his arms. _

_ I grabbed onto him, nervous of falling. I stared at the 'boss' as they both walked along into the base that had been approximately fifty yards away. I let my eyes drift closed and fell into deep slumber. _

_ I awoke to being warm and quite comfortable in a bed. Snuggling up more, I studied my surroundings. It was quite homey, except for the thick metal walls. It was quaint, filled with odd knick-knacks, and had no true colour scheme. Each piece of furniture had real wood in it somewhere, with old material over them. I slowly sat up and looked at the entrance, and exit, to the room. Wondering if I should investigate what was beyond the door, it suddenly opened. The old man, a soldier, and a doctor came through the door._

_ "Well, the results say there isn't anything wrong with her. She doesn't have any injuries…" He mumbled then looked up at me, "Oh, she's awake." The doctor continued._

_ "Good. We need to give you a name of some sort in stead of something with a "C" sound." The boss of this place looked at me sternly. _

_I looked down and thought once more, slowly began to grasp what I believed to be my name. "I… I think my name is Cathy…"_

_ "You think, or do you know." His voice became sterner._

_ "K-know…?" I tried to hide the hint of a question in my voice, and in my own belief._

_ "Good. Now to your feet. Since we don't have any files on you, this is now your new home, and where you will now work. You are under my command, unless I say other wise. Understand?" He stated, rather than asked._

_ "But… I-" I began._

_ "The decision has been made already. You start tomorrow after a good long rest." He walked out, both the soldier and doctor following him, a bit hesitant and perhaps a bit stunned._

Present day:

I sighed softly, and hid under my covers. I closed my eyes and began to think; _Whom will I be meeting tomorrow? Whom haven't I met here? On second thought, that's probably a lot of people… Well then, what is this mission, and why do I have to do it with a group if its so 'easy' that even my injured shoulder wouldn't compromise it… Well whatever, I'll find out tomorrow, all I can do now is rest._ I urged myself to sleep, and after an hour of restless moving in between the polyester material, I slipped into unconsciousness.

I woke up, and slipped out of my bed, fixing it and making it penny bouncing tight. I stretched my injured shoulder out gently, easing it into movement as I made my way to Abraham's office, my boss. _It's kind of hard to believe I still don't remember anything and it's been two years since I've arrived here._ I knocked on the door and waited for some sort of response.

"Who is it?" Abraham's voice called through the door.

"You know who it is." I folded my arms.

"Come in." He called out. "The team I mentioned to you is in here waiting to see who you are."

I walked in and found myself shocked. There was a hedgehog, a bat, and a robot. I looked at the black and red hedgehog, picking up that he was not happy about this, the white bat seemed uninterested and the red robot was just standing there, obviously with no sense of emotion about him.

"This is Team Dark." Abraham began to introduce, "Team Dark, this is Cathy."

"I'm Rouge the bat. This here is Shadow," She motioned to the black and red hedgehog, "and this here is Omega." She motioned to the robot.

"Whatever. What's this stupid mission we have to do?" I looked at Tower's, clearly unhappy.

"All you have to do is go to this location, steal some information, plant false information, and make sure you aren't found out, and make sure your identity isn't breached. Team Dark will back you up and assist with anything. Don't do anything to irritate that shoulder." He did a quick overview.

"Coordinates, dagger, handgun, and what's the info to steal and to plant, and where." I quickly questioned, wanting to get straight to the point.

"Take this device and plug it into the main computer and upload it into the system to plant the false info. Shadow will be taking care of retrieving info. Your target is all the way in Restropolis, their main government facility. Make sure you plant the info into their main computer. As long as no one is breached, it should be a piece of cake for you all. You all leave at twenty two hundred hours. Now go chat, I have other things to do." He went back to the papers that were on his desk as we all left the room.

"I don't care what you guys do, I can do this myself." I began to walk away, Rouge then slipped in front of me.

"Sorry sugar, but we were ordered directly to help you. It is our assignment and we are going to do it." She insisted.

With a slight growl I responded, "Fine, but don't get in my way. I work solo."

"Then don't get in my way either." Shadow spat coldly.

I heard rouge let out a sigh before I spoke, "We all meet back here before we initiate the mission. I'll see you in seven hours." I walked off silently, getting some early preparations completed.

My ear flicked as Team Dark walked though the door. I studied them for a second before standing up right from my leaning position. "Good to go I presume?"

"Humph. Are you ready?" Shadow emotionlessly said.

"Obviously. Let's get this over with then." I sighed and departed with Team Dark. Walking out into the vehicle lot, we headed over to where the aircrafts were and hoped into a helicopter. The helicopter was a tested and proven prototype that was almost dead silent compared to the standard helicopter. I hopped in and watched Team Dark get in.

"IF ONLY THERE WAS MORE DESTRUCTION ON THIS MISSION." Omega stated. It brought out a small smirk on my face.

"Well unfortunately we don't get to blast down walls and empty our magazines of bullets. This is supposed to be a silent mission." I took a good look at Omega, "However, I don't see why you are here. You're a robot, a program. You cannot hide your voice, and you cannot deny your form. How are you supposed to assist when we have to sneak in?"

"I WILL BE ON A ROOF IN THE DISTANCE READY TO ASSIST WITH ANY FIRE POWER IF NEEDED." He stated.

With a sigh, I just looked at him, "Well if we _do _need the fire power than we would have failed our mission."

"That is not an option." Shadow stated, looking out of the helicopter.

"Also, I don't know if you are aware of this, but Restropolis is a human territory. So do either of you have a good disguise?" I looked at Rouge, then to Shadow.

"Do you?" Shadow spat back at me.

"Yes." I snapped my fingers and turned human who had short brown hair with side bangs and pale skin as well as hazel-green eyes. "I can make the both of you human as well if need be."

Shadow just glared at me before continuing looking out at the vast land and sky: Rouge then spoke up, "Well… we could find another way in. It will be late evening so we could sneak in though the air vents and work our way to the main computer room." Rouge suggested.

"I suppose we could…" I thought for a second and gave a swift nod. "Yeah I'm good with that." I glanced over to the one who was flying, "How much longer until we are at our destination."

"About five minutes." He grumbled.

I changed back into my hedgehog form and looked upon the world. There was a lot of green in this area, and many thick woods; _Restropolis…_, I muttered gently in my mind. I glimpsed over to Shadow then studied the helicopter for a few moments. I laid back and closed my eyes, listening to the drum of the blades overhead, taking in the cool wind that whisked away the sweat, and just took a moment to relax.

My ears perked up, _Shit! _In a matter of seconds, we were hit with a RPG. The helicopter spun quickly before it smashed into the ground. Everything went black for a bit before I regained my senses. Pain split up from my leg, the helicopter was torn apart and on fire off in the distance. Glimpsing down at my leg I noticed I had a compound fracture. Blood quickly escaped my body; the blood from my face drained and I felt sick to my stomach as I looked away. I focused on trying to keep my breathing steady and controlled.

I felt a hand push at my neck causing my body to jerk instantly away. I then felt the hands grab my leg and force my bone back into place causing a small scream out of me. I looked up; vision blurred, the pain pounding with every heartbeat, and watched Shadow quickly fix me up. I studied him as best as I could, my vision going in and out of focus. He had some cuts, but he was fine.

"You're going to be okay. You might have a concussion. The pilot is dead. We need to move, **now**." I then felt myself lift up; a sharp coolness came over the side of my head. _Blood_.

I looked at the one who lifted me; Omega stood proudly, virtually unscathed from what had just happened. "I WILL CARRY HER TO SAFTEY, SHADOW." Shadow gave a nod and looked at Rouge. I tried to study her too. Her arm had a good gash in it with blood running down along her arm until it dripped into the now stained ground. She had a few other cuts and bumps but overall was fine.

I heard gunshots come from all around us, as they seemed to echo through the air. I vaguely felt Omega carry me; however, my vision was beginning to lose any focus it had. My vision began to turn black; attempting to focus on my wounded leg and the blood soaked bandage, I heard Omega call out to Shadow and Rouge. I finally slipped away into darkness.

"Cathy. Wake up." I heard Rouge's voice call out.

"Mmph…" I unwillingly opened my eyes and looked around. It was very dark; Rouge's face blocked my view of pretty much anything else. "Rouge… What happened…? Where are we…?"

"We are hiding out in a basement of an abandoned shack. The enemy has us surrounded." She explained quickly.

I tried to sit up, but got extremely dizzy and settled myself down. My body was sore; I noticed my fangs were showing. _I need to feed._

"I don't know how much longer the door will hold. We need to get out of here." Shadow spoke sternly.

"I need some blood… To drink…" I began to try to sit up again, this time Rouge assisted me and I was able to steady myself.

"To drink? You mean you're…?" Rouge looked at my fangs.

"Yeah… I am… It will heal me, and I'll regain my strength." I looked at Shadow.

"And what will you do once you're healed up." Shadow asked me sternly.

"I'll kill them all, and we can get on with our purpose for being here." I placed my hand down on the cool surface realizing I was much warmer than usual.

"There will be no killing!" He growled; the basement door rattled and cracked as someone attempted to open it.

"We don't have much time, we either use Chaos Control or we kill them!" I tried to speak quickly, just as I finished my sentence a gun shot cried out, my ears rang. The door was breached. Shadow swiftly darted towards us crying out "Chaos Control!" bringing us to safety.

I looked around before falling back and looking into the deep blue sky that had no clouds to be seen. The field we were in had very tall thin grass that had a mixture of a very light brown and the classic grass green. The brightness of the day was quickly shaded by Shadow.

"How can you even suggest killing people?!" He growled.

"What do you mean? They shot at us first, they wanted us dead, and they killed the pilot. In this world, with what we do, its **kill **or _be _**killed**. Don't you understand that? They aren't even innocent civilians. We had the clear to kill them. They probably deser-" I was cut off quickly as Shadow's fist met with my jaw. He then grabbed my shirt and pulled me up closer to him, hate and disgust filled his eyes.

"There is _**always**_ another way! So don't you _**dare**_ feed that shit to me! You disgust me!" He growled. I moved my jaw cautiously; _It's just gonna be really sore. It's not broken._ I spit up blood.

"Shadow…" Rouge said softly. He glimpsed over to her then looked at me. He slowly dropped me to the ground and walked away, off into the trees to cool down. I sighed softly and closed my eyes.

"We are going back to finish this mission. She can bleed out and die here." He started heading in the direction of the target.

"We are not leaving her Shadow." Rouge called out.

"Whatever. I'm not carrying her, or dealing with her. Do what you want." He growled lowly.

"I WILL CARRY HER." Omega spoke as he began to pick me up. I grunted lightly.

I looked at my wound. The cloth was soaked, the movement only making the bleeding worse. I closed my eyes, wondering what I could contribute to the mission now.

I started feeling extremely weak and faint, my breath getting raspy. "SHE IS LOOSING TOO MUCH BLOOD." Omega sounded distant. I saw a blurry black head form over my plane of sight.

"Hey can you hear me girl?" Shadow asked his voice remaining monotone.

"You… sound so far away…" I muttered softly and closed my eyes. "I'm so… tired…"

"Keep your eyes open. Stay awake." I felt him tap my face and have me look at him. I opened my eyes trying to make sense of the images. I felt my eyes get heavier; the burning in my throat only aspiring into the only thing the last ounce of pure consciousness could comprehend.

_ Chapter Two_

I came to full consciousness finding my fangs burrowed deep into Shadow's neck. He was not lively, but he was still conscious. I tasted his sweet blood and took in his scent. I gripped my hands onto whatever they were holding and I felt him move. This is when I realized my wings were out holding his shoulders against a tree. Both Shadow and I were in sitting like positions.

"Don't shoot her Omega… I'll be fine." He spoke softly. "She's just running on a baser instinct."

I was unable to help myself as I took another mouthful of his blood and swallowed; it was the best thing I tasted. I forced myself to pull my fangs out of his neck. I licked the wound sealing it shut, lapping up any blood left behind. I pulled back and fully sat on the uneven damp ground. I looked at what I was holding onto, Shadow's forearms. I gently let go of them and glanced at him before looking away.

He looked at me for a moment then pulled himself up using the tree to steady himself. "Shadow, take it easy." Rouge went to his side wishing to help him.

"I'm fine… Let's move out." He began walking. I looked up at him, seeing his face was quite pale.

"SHADOW, YOU ARE IN NEED OF BLOOD." Omega called out to him while following not far behind.

I looked down at my leg and examined it. The wound was now nonexistent. I examined the rest of my body concluding that everything was in peak condition. _His blood is incredible…_ I peered up and slowly got to my feet.

"I'm fine Omega… Aren't you coming girl, or did you take my blood for nothing?" He spat coldly at me.

"S-sorry…" I looked down and followed them, trailing along behind them. "I didn't mean to…"

"Humph." He grunted and continued to walk. I noticed that by the way he was moving his condition was horrible. Moments after he nearly collapsed.

I slipped next to him quickly and helped him walk. "I don't need your help pathetic girl!"

"Shadow stop it… just save your energy…" I hid behind my quills, my eyes burning, tears threatening to run down my face. "Please…" I added very quietly. He must have noticed, he never fought or said anything since.

Once we were in close proximity to our mission, I looked up wondering where Omega and Shadow could hide. "Shadow, you should stay with Omega and assist Rouge and I from afar."

"No. I was told to retrieve information from their database, and that is what I am going to do." He urged and pulled himself away, standing on his own.

"Shadow, you're not in the proper condition, what if you put our mission in jeopardy." I tried to reason.

"**You** already put this mission in jeopardy. Perhaps you should stay behind and let Omega do everything you were supposed to accomplish." He growled back.

I glared, "You are really starting to piss me off Shadow The Hedgehog. Maybe I should have su-…" I cut my sentence short and covered my mouth breathing deeply through my nose.

"Pathetic." He huffed. I sighed trying to let it go.

"Can we _not_ kill one another until the mission is completed?" Rouge nitpicked.

"Humph." Shadow and I grunted in unison causing us to shoot unimpressed looks at one another. I then peered over to Rouge to try to break the mutual dislike between Shadow and I at this moment.

With a small sigh, I muttered, "Let's just get this over with then."

Omega used his jet pack extension to slip up to the roof of a tall building while activating his invisibility cloak allowing complete virtual invisibility.

I looked over to Shadow and Rouge, then to our targeted building. They gave me a swift nod when Omega was ready and we approached the building while cautiously avoiding and looking out for cameras. We quickly made our way to the top of the building; we slipped into the air vents undetected. I looked around and got a sense of the air vents, and then I pulled out an electronic map in which it would lead us to our proper destination.

Glimpsing at Shadow to see if he was already for a moment, I peered back at the map and leaded the way through the vents until the main computer room lay right below us. Carefully cutting through the metal with a small G.U.N. made gadget that was quite similar to a Bharat metal cutting gas. I made sure to keep enough of the metal attacked that I could easily bend it without the metal square breaking and falling to the ground, inevitably giving away our position, and our overall presence in the building. Slipping my head through the hole that was just big enough to peek though, I noticed two individuals in the room. They were armed. I signalled Rouge and Shadow to notify them, I also told them to stay put. Shadow's facial expression clearly gave away that he was not pleased with this but he did not reject what I was planning.

I used my powers to enable invisibility and slipped down quietly to the floor. Approaching the individuals, both happening to be male, I knocked both out simultaneously allowing clearance for Rouge and Shadow. Rouge gently lowered Shadow down to the floor using her wings. Shadow and I quickly began to work. Within a few minutes, we had accomplished our goal, our mission. An alarm rang loudly a few moments later, I growled and looked over to Shadow.

"What the hell did you do?!" I snarled.

"What did I do?! What did you do!?" He fought back.

"Now is not the time for this, we need to get out of here!" Rouge pushed us to the ventilation shaft above us. I looked up and saw the hole I made that allowed us to get down to the ground.

I quickly looked behind us, security quickly coming through the doors. They had armed guns, and determination; _this mission is definitely failed. Abraham is __**not**__ going to be happy about this._

"Surrender now or we will fire." The representatives from the security called out.

"Go on you two, I'll handle them." Shadow pushed us back.

"Oh no you don't!" I grabbed him and pulled him into Rouge. I focused and induced Chaos Control on them specifically, sending them to Omega. As quickly as I did so, the representative opened fire, taking out my right knee. I fell into a crouching-sitting position.

"Should we capture her and detain her, interrogate her?" One of the younger men underneath the representative called out. The representative gave a swift nod.

_ Oh no you don't!_ I growled internally and forced my body to stand. Next thing I knew I felt something wrap from behind me, encasing my body, and electrifying shock of electricity ran through me, at first I thought it was just shock, but I quickly realized it was an electrified net. I lost control over my body due to the shocks and felt my body spasm uncontrollably on the floor violently. It seemed to last for several minutes, completely draining my energy. After a few moments of relief, I realized I was being mounted and pinned. Struggling to get free I felt more hands hold pin me; sharp pain followed by a jolt of worry over came me, realizing there was a needle in my neck. I was unable to perceive anything after that.

I awoke, the lighting was dull, and the room remained dark everywhere except for where I remained. I looked around, feeling something around my mouth; a cloth was tied tightly around my head disabling speech. I sat on an uncomfortable chair; bindings were on my feet, arms, wrists, and torso, hands clasped behind me on the back of the chair.

"She's awake. Shall we let her speak?" One man, his face and torso shadowed.

"Yes." A woman spoke, her tone critical. I quickly concluded she must be in charge.

The man stepped forward into the light; however, he had a black mask over his face disabling me to apprehend any features. However, his voice was all I needed to remember. He removed the cloth and stepped back. I kept quiet and stared hard into the darkness. _Where am I and what do they want… Who are they?_

"Now, what were you and your little friends doing in the main computer room, what exactly you did, who ordered it and why." The female spoke out calmly.

"I will not say anything either than this; no matter what, you will never get any information out of me." I shuffled as best as I could in my seat.

"Well then, boys, let's say we have a little fun. We could beat it out of her, or do something much… worse." She coldly stated, almost relishing in the idea. The men laughed, clearly enjoying the idea of breaking me down into spilling the beans; or perhaps they were also relishing in just simple violence or maybe something even worse.

"Let me have the first go at her. I haven't been able to do this sort of thing in awhile." A ragged voice called out from behind me. He stepped towards me and soon placed himself directly in front of me.

He grabbed onto my shirt, and just as I was expecting to be punched, something much different happened. My shirt was ripped off my torso exposing my bra. He giggled like a schoolgirl and whipped out his knife, cutting my bra right in the middle allowing it to fall to each side gently, completely exposing me.

I simply glared up at the man and slowly smiled, maniacal laughter began shaking my body until I was unable to help but laugh full fledged. Darkness enveloped me in an aurora signifying my first dark form transformation. Looking up at the man once more, I stared into his soulless eyes and smiled thinking:_ you're going to die first. _

His body language told me of his confusion, and that is when I decide to take matters into my own hands. I burst the rope into flames and quickly manoeuvred out of the chair, lunging at my prey. Once his warm body was pinned to the cool floor I bit into his neck ripping out his throat. Blood sprayed all over my face and body, drenching my body and clothes in crimson. Gunfire let lose, the sound ringing in the small room, my ears desensitizing.

I pulled up a barrier, the bullets deflected off it causing rickashay. One of the men yelped as his leg was hit with a metal fragment. I focused and gathered all my energy into me and let it lose; Chaos Blast enveloped the area weakening the building's structure as well as eliminating any life within a five-mile radius.

Once the blast dissipated, I heard the building creek with weakness. A few moments later, it collapsed on top of me. I grunted, having difficulty breathing as well as feeling some sharp pain from the materials above me slowly crushing me. I took as deep of a breath as I could and focused. Using my mental strength, I summoned psychokinetic powers to lift the debris off my body allowing my escape. Crawling out, I soon found firm footing and worked my way down to the ground. I slowly began to walk, returning to my normal state of being feeling completely drained and devoid of all energy.

I studied did not pay much attention to my surroundings as I walked. There were what seemed to be some abandoned buildings, and there were trees in the area, either than that, nothing was memorable. I stumbled along in my existence for what seemed like half an hour to an hour before I faintly heard someone call out to me.

"Girl… Is that you?" I thought of Shadow for a split moment, the memory of it becoming very vague. "Hey!" I felt someone grab onto me, I quickly realized someone was in front of me having me peer at their face. "What happened to you?!"

"Shadow…" I muttered, the realization of his presence perceived me. I fell into his arms tiredly, ready to pass out. "I wanna sleep… I'm… so… tired…" I muttered almost childishly, feeling more drained than I previously had felt. I gently let my eye lids close; instantaneously I slipped into unconsciousness.

_ Chapter Three _

I woke to bright lights fastened in the ceiling. "You're awake." I heard Shadow say softly. I slowly sat up and looked at myself. The blood that was once on me was gone, and my clothes were changed.

"Mph…" I curled up still feeling tired. Moments later I yawned softly.

"Are you alright. What did they do to you." He asked softly.

"The leader said to beat me or do something worse until I spoke. One of the men thought it would be awesome to try and rape me ssoooo I killed them all." I smiled to myself. He growled and got up. With his fists clenched he began walking away; with my ears lowered I mumbled, "Sorry… I shouldn't have told you." He grunted, clearly unhappy. I got up and went over to him, grabbing his arm gently to keep him from walking any farther.

"Don't touch me." His voice was dark and cold, completely uncaring and spiteful. I slowly let him go and looked at his face; I was unable to think of anything to say and had no true knowledge of what to do. "I thought you were hurt, I thought something bad did happen to you…" He shook his head before speaking once more, "You absolutely disgust me. Stay away from me. I never want to see you again."

"Shadow I- ungh…!" I felt a sharp pain split through my head; consequently I gripped it tightly becoming unfocused of my surroundings, and of where or what I was doing. I found myself lost, floating around images, words coming at me from all angles suddenly; I was unable to make any sense of it all.

Images of humans, Shadow and the others, along with other unknowns filled my mind. _Memories…?_ Was all I could conduct with the chaos streaming behind my eyes. I attempted to understand, I pushed myself to comprehend what all of it meant, but I was unable to take it all in.

After some amount of time, I came back to reality, the hectic mind games ceasing. "Hey. Cathy can you hear me?" One of the doctors that was quite familiar with me was crouched down beside me.

I looked at him and slowly nodded. I glimpsed around and realized I was still in the same room as before. Abraham was watching the incident. "What's going on…" I spoke softly.

"We are wondering the same thing." The doctor spoke, then glimpsed back over his shoulder at Abraham before returning his gaze to me.

"Did you remember something?" Abraham asked without emotion, or tone in his voice.

I shrugged and looked around a little bit. I realized I was curled up against a corner in the wall. I slowly pulled myself up off the ground; walking to the door I muttered, "I'm going out for some air…"

I Chaos Controlled on to the roof of the G.U.N base and slipped into another ball. Keeping my knees tucked in, I began thinking of the images and words that had invaded my mind. _So I was on… Earth? Was it… And I loved Shadow The Hedgehog… Come to think of it, those emotions for him have arisen from deep within me… So I suppose I still love him. But he hates me…_ I felt tears threaten to show themselves._ What's wrong with me…? I should stop thinking about that for now. Earth, I was born human so how did I end up here, how did I end up a hedgehog? Why? How can this make any sense? What about that weird place in space… ARK? I think that's the word that was associated with it. I was a hedgehog on there too. I remember scientists and I remember this blond girl… and I think Shadow was there too. Everything is so fuzzy…_ I groaned softly._ Should I speak of this…? No not yet. I should find out more first. Perhaps I could pull out Shadow's file and see if I can draw any conclusions from it… I can't believe I was so stupid to make him hate me… _I felt something hot running down my face. I gently touched my finger to it and looked at it. _Water… I'm crying…_

"I thought I told you to not show yourself around me." I heard a dark voice say.

_ Shadow…_ I clenched my fists feeling the tears getting heavier. I shook my head and burrowed it into my knees, hoping for cover from my quills. "I didn't know you were up here…" I muttered, trying to keep my voice under control.

"Humph…" He grunted. I hugged my body closer, I felt vulnerable, I also hoped he wouldn't hurt me. After a moment of silence he questioned, "Why are you crying?"

I moved uncomfortably, "Who said I was crying?"

"Why can't you just answer the damn question." He growled.

I just shook my head a little, beginning to feel tired again. "I don't wanna talk about it… I don't fully understand it."

"Are you feeling guilty?" Snide was evident in his voice.

"No… This is something entirely different…" I spoke softly, really not wanting to speak anymore. "If you hate me why are you talking to me now?" I muttered a little trying to change the subject, or perhaps even to shoo him away.

"The boss insists we still work together, and he insists that we take care of one another." He sighed.

"And I suppose he is going to give you something good for it?" I muttered.

"Humph… Either way, we are essentially "resetting" whatever this is back to how it originally was. Two strangers who neither like nor hate one another." I felt his glance dig into my very being. We sat there in silence for a bit until he sighed. "I'm… Shadow The Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form… Who are you…?" He tried to force it out with normal tones, but I could tell he hated this.

"… You can call me Cathy…" I muttered, feeling ridiculous as a faint uncomfortable smile formed. We sat there in silence, neither of us knowing what to say, or do. I slowly began to think of the memories that flashed through my head. "Hey… Shadow… What's ARK…"

He gave me a stern look, "How do you know about ARK?" He growled lowly.

"When you were with me earlier, I sorta… lost awareness? I guess." I did not know how to explain what happened when I was not watching myself. He nodded swiftly. "Well… Um, don't tell Abraham this, or anyone else for that matter, but I think I began to remember things… I haven't been able to remember anything since I woke on this planet, and, well… I remember weird things, and I don't know how to make sense of it, or what's going on, but there was something about ARK, I know you where there since I remember you being involved with it, I just… I don't know…" I looked away feeling stupid, childish.

"Humph." He folded his arms. I slowly laid down and sighed, covering my eyes to try and hide any signs that I was previously crying. I realized at this time that it was dusk.

"That symbol…" He muttered sternly.

"Hm…?" I sat up and looked at my body. To the right of my left hip bone a tattoo was boldly coloured with crimson red and shaded with black. "Oh that… What about it? It's been there since I got here…" I winced and gripped my head seeing flashes of memory involving the tattoo. It was then that I realized it was Shadow's symbol, or rather the Black Arms symbol. I only got it to represent Shadow though.

"What are you remembering?" His voice snapped me back to reality.

"Huh…? Oh… I…" I felt my face burn, realizing I was blushing.

"Are you blushing? Or are you ill?" He felt my forehead.

"I'm not ill or blushing." I pulled away before speaking once more, "I got the tattoo knowing well of what it was. I rather not talk about it."

"Humph." He grunted and looked at where the sun had set. Silence ensued the both of us, however the surrounding area had some noise. Some metal clanking sounds, a few whispers of soldiers, and some day birds chirping away before they settle in for the night. I just simply laid back once more, my hands behind my head and watched the sky, waiting for the stars to begin to show.

I noticed Shadow glimpse at me from the corner of my eye before he looked up to see what I was looking at. "I like the stars… They're amazing… I want to see as many as possible one day, and I want to see what planets look like from space. I also want to explore space as well as other planets too I suppose… I doubt that will happen though."

He remained silent for a little bit, "So you want to see lots of stars and planets huh…?" He muttered quietly.

"Yeah…" I sighed out softly.

He sat up and looked to the roof of the G.U.N. base we were sitting on; he appeared to be thinking. "You said you remembered something about ARK correct?"

"Yes… Why?" I sat up some, curious as to what was going through his head.

"Well… You can see Earth from there as well as lots of stars… As long as you don't wander away from me, I'll take you there, but only this one time…" He seemed unsure of this idea.

"Okay. I won't wander away. I'd probably get lost without you anyways." I looked at his face, trying to gather more information from his body language.

He grabbed onto my arm then said, "Chaos Control!"

I looked around and realized we were somewhere far from G.U.N. We were on ARK, and there was a large window with the view of Earth right in front of us. "Oh wow…" I muttered seeing Earth glow, "It's so pretty…" I walked towards the window to get a bigger better view. I soon looked around to view any stars or other planets, or even the moon from this view. "This is incredible!" My tail wagged happily, "Are there more views like this on here?" I questioned, then looked at Shadow. He stood next to me looking out the window seemingly melancholy.

"Yeah, but this one is the biggest, and the most incredible." He faced away from me so I couldn't see his face, but he continued to look out the window.

"Are you okay…?" I asked gently, I then suddenly felt another sharp pain in my head. I gripped it grunting a little bit. Memories of this place infested my mind. For a moment I broke away from it all, feeling myself drop to the floor, but the memories quickly grasped me once more. The scientists, Professor Gerald Robotnik, Maria, Shadow, and G.U.N., all of it was returning.

_ I opened my eyes, green liquid was all I could make out at first aside form the little air bubbles. My vision became clearer and I was able to see past the liquid and through some glass. A man in a white lab coat was standing not too far form me, he appeared to be working. I watched him quietly, not fully understanding what was going on. My mind felt empty, blank, I had no memory, I had no idea where I was, how I got there, who I was, or what my purpose was. I noticed the man look up at me and he smiled gently._

_ "You're awake and I just created you. I'm Professor Gerald Robotnik, your creator. You are aboard a space colony called ARK." He explained before doing a few more unknown things._

_ "ARK…" I spoke softly. "Who… am I?"_

_ He seemed to stop and think for a moment, "You shall be known as Catherine, or Cathy for short." _

_ "Cathy… Okay…" I closed my eyes, feeling everything slip away into darkness._

_ I slowly opened my eyes realizing that I has passed out. I began questioning how long I had been resting for. I noticed the same man from before working on me, _Professor Gerald…_ I recalled. "Professor… Gerald…" I spoke softly and a little slowly, feeling groggy._

_ He peered up into my eyes, "Ah so you are awake once more. I worried something was wrong, you were out for a few days. How are you feeling?"_

_ I thought for a moment and just slowly shrugged. I slowly put my hand on the glass and looked around inside of it a little. It was a vat that I was held in. "Why am I in here… and why are you out there?"_

_ "You were created in there, and it is a stable environment for you. Unfortunately, I don't believe you are ready to come out from there yet. I am out here because I am used to this environment, and I am also the one who needs to work from here in order to keep you stable and finish you." He tried to explain._

_ "So I will be able to go out there one day…?" I questioned._

_ "Yes. Perhaps soon." He resumed his work, and I simply watched until I felt tired; that's when I went to sleep._

_ I woke up and looked around. No one was in the room this time, however moments later, the Professor walked in. "Professor…" I mumbled._

_ "Hello. How are you feeling today." He examined me._

_ "I feel fine… Is today the day I can finally come out?" I asked, a little excited._

_ "I'm not sure. Let me run a few tests and then we will see if you are ready." He began working. I waited patiently for fifteen minutes. "Everything seems to be normal and stable. I'll let you out, but please don't push yourself." _

_ He went to a control panel and pushed some buttons as well as typing some stuff. Next thing I knew the green liquid drained from the vat. Once the vat was empty I heard a click and the tube lifted so I was able to get out. I sat on the bottom part of the vat and then slipped out to the floor. I stumbled a little, trying to walk, and was quickly held by Gerald. I felt heavier, and found breathing a little more difficult at first, but I felt as if I was beginning to adjust to the way things are out of the green liquid._

_ "How are you feeling?" He questioned, somewhat concerned._

_ "This feels weird… I feel heavier… At first it seemed harder to breathe…" I muttered and grasped onto his lab coat. _

_ "Okay. Do you feel well enough to walk around on your own?" _

_ I nodded gently to his question. "I think I can do it." I let go of his white lab coat and stood on my own. I walked around a little, getting better at it with every step I took. _

_ "Very good. Are you feeling okay?" He asked, writing some things down. I nodded before he spoke again, "Good, good. Now, I was wondering if you were well enough, or ready to try out your powers."_

_ "My powers…?" I questioned curiously._

_ "You have many powers. Anything you can think of or imagine doing you are capable of it. You are the most powerful thing in the world, perhaps even the universe." He crouched down in front of me so he was more at my height level. "Just promise you will always use it for good."_

_ "I promise… Daddy…" My tail flicked slightly and I hugged him gently. I felt him pet my head._

_ "Now go on and test out your powers." He urged me._

_ With a swift nod I focused my will and I concentrated on making a spear of pure Chaos Energy. I soon had a Chaos Spear made; I grasped it firmly and made a target that would be able to take a large amount of damage and I threw the spear at it. The target took the hit well. I then made little balls of fire appear over the palms of my hand and then I shot them at the target causing it to catch fire. Once it was lit I drew the water from the air and doused the flame in water. After all this I began to feel really tired and light headed._

_ "Are you alright?" The professor asked concerned._

_ "I… I don't know…" I muttered feeling my energy drain. I soon felt myself collapse and was quickly overcome by darkness._

_ I gently woke up to the hum of machinery. I curled myself into a ball and peeked open an eye. I was back in my vat surrounded by the breathable green liquid. I looked at myself and realized something odd. There were golden rings around my wrists and ankles._

_ "They are inhibitor rings." I heard the professor speak calmly._

_ "Inhibitor… rings…?" I groggily questioned then yawned._

_ "Yes. They are to help control your energy levels so you can use your powers for longer, as well as keeping your energy levels higher for longer." He briefly explained._

_ "So I can use my powers more and not get so tired?" I questioned._

_ "Precisely." He stated then let me out of the vat._

_ I slipped out and found myself more tolerable of the environment outside of my vat. "How much longer do I have to stay in there?"_

_ "Perhaps one more day? Maybe two? I have a room prepared for you once you are ready to be out all the time. Would you like to see your room, as well as explore ARK?" He finished his work up._

_ "Okay." I grabbed onto the bottom of his white lab coat tightly and followed him around as he showed me where certain rooms are and where my bedroom was. _

_ I tried to take it all in but I had a hard time recalling which way was which; all the hallways and rooms looked the same to me. Once we were in my room I studied the bed and the little room in there known as a walk-in closet. There were many different varieties of clothes and styles in the closet. _

_ "Do you like it?" The professor asked._

_ I nodded, "Could use a change of colour though I guess. It's really nice. I like it." I sat on the bed. "This is really comfy." I chirped happily. _

_ He smiled, "That's good. I also have something to tell you about. However, you're going to need to keep it very secret okay."_

_ "Okay!" I chirped once more. I followed the Professor to a hidden room far away from where the other scientists would go. I had lost track of where we went and how to get back. We were soon in a vacant room with another vat just like mine being prepared. I felt a dark ominous feeling come from an alien that floated in the middle of the room._

_ "Black Doom, I see you've been preparing without me." The professor looked to me then to the alien. "Cathy this is Black Doom. He will be staying with us for awhile. He is helping me with another one of my experiments." I gripped onto the professor tightly afraid of the dark alien._

_ Black Doom's eyes stared into mine. I slowly sipped back in behind the professor for protection and comfort. "It's okay." He pet my head softly. _

_ "I'll be setting up my room." Black Doom left the room and disappeared down the hallway._

_ I relaxed a little and looked up at the Professor. "He's bad…" I spoke softly._

_ "It's okay… Just don't involve yourself much with him. What I really wanted to show you is this room and vat. He and I are creating another hedgehog, like you in a way. His name is Shadow, standing for Special Hyper Advanced Dimensional Organic Weapon. Project S.H.A.D.O.W., he will be the ultimate life form, and he will also be a cure to my granddaughter's disease. Maria has what we call NIDS, Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome."_

_ "Okay…" I spoke softly, listening._

_ "Anyways, I want you to be his friend okay? So when he is created please try to get along. Try to think of him like a little brother, even though you technically aren't related." He asked of me gently. I gave a simple nod. "Now let's get you back to your own vat and get you some rest."_

_ "Okay." I followed the Professor's lead as we went back to my vat in which I was forged in. Once we where there he let me in and I went into a deep peaceful slumber._

_ The next morning I awoke to an empty room. I gently put my hand on the glass wondering if it was okay to come out. I sat there in silence for hours until the door slowly opened, only I was not greeted by the professor, instead it was Black Doom. A chill ran down my spine and I curled up into a ball as he approached. He used the controls to let me out, however I stayed put feeling increasingly unsafe every second._

_ "What do you want…" I slowly asked, hoping to not offend._

_ "You off of ARK." He grabbed me and pulled me along. I tried to pull away, I struggled and pulled at his hand but I was unable to avail myself and remained trapped in his grasp. I felt his grip tighten and pain sparked through me; wincing I tried to find a more comfortable position for my arm. _

_ "Let me go!" I cried out, complete terror saturated my voice. _

_ "Shut up or I'll kill you." He growled lowly, soon entering an area with escape pods._

_ He threw me into an escape pod and quickly shut me in. I curled up and watched him as we slipped over to the main control panel and then pulled a leaver. I felt the pod drop and I quickly found myself in space, off of ARK. My gut crunched up knowing that this was a horrible situation to be in. I burrowed my face into my knees and let tears flow out. _What am I going to do… What's going to happen to me…_ I floated gently in space, wondering if I would end up crashing into anything eventually, or if I would forever float in nothingness for all eternity. _

_ My ear flicked as I heard a strange noise, as well as feeling some heat. I looked up and saw the entire pod encased in fire. I felt everything get heavier and gain speed that's when I realized what was going on; I was going through some sort of atmosphere and I was going to crash into a planet. _I'm going to die…I don't want to die._ I curled up and braced myself for impact, assuming the pod and I would survive the fiery fall. All too soon I experienced the impact; it was loud, it was brutal on my physical body, and I could barely breathe. A few seconds later the pod popped open. _

_ I looked up, a bright white-yellow thing harshly shone, I quickly realized it was the sun. I looked away from it and slowly sat up catching my breath. The air was fresh, and it smelled like flowers, dirt, and grass. I slowly crawled up and out of the crater the impact of the pod had formed. I realized that I had already drawn a lot of attention to myself for there was a wolf sniffing about not too far from where I landed. I was suspicious, and surprised that it had not run away from such an unknown loud phenomenon. I crawled a little closer to it, feeling how weak and sore my body was I decided to lay there and watch it. It perked up and stared at me, its ears in an alert state, its head lowered. It quickly made its way over to me, its head remaining low, its body remaining still while its legs did all the work. Once it was close enough, it sniffed me and nudged me, calculating how alive I was. I pulled away and sat up. I watched its ears fold back and moments later it attacked me, biting my neck; I cried out in pain ad I tried to grab its head and get it off. _

_ I then witness the wolf get tackled off me by a human. He quickly snapped one of the wolf's legs putting it out of commission, however, I was not in the safe zone yet. The human had fangs, nothing like I have ever observed before. I backed away, unsure of what was going on, but just like before with the wolf, the human pinned me down and bit into my neck. I whimpered and shut my eyes tightly. My veins began burning and with each pulse pain spread, heat radiated off of me; I felt the human's weight lift off of me. I opened my eyes finding them unfocused with pain. I started to see in red._

_ The wolf suddenly changed back into a human, it was a horrific sight; his bones snapped and reformed, the fur fell off of his body, his teeth fell out then grew in once more, all in a matter of seconds. "What the hell did you do that for?!" The werewolf cried, "You stupid vampire!"_

_ "What did I do?! What did you do! I had to bite her to ensured she died so we don't have more of _your_ kind around here!" He spat back, his fists clenched; they were close to breaking into an all out war._

_ I grunted and closed my eyes tightly the pain worsening. It was as if hot boiling oil was being poured over me while being electrocuted in specific areas. I gasped out for air, barely able to move. That is when I felt something even more horrible, as well as heard giving me knowledge of what was to come. My spine shifted, and my shoulders cracked along with my hips, I felt snapping companied by sharp pain. It seemed to drag on for hours on end as I pleaded for death. In addition to the werewolf transformation I began to feel my throat burning with desire, a desire for something to quench an unknown thirst; a thirst which I realized would be blood. I felt some rip out of my back where my shoulder blades are; attempting to peek behind myself, I realized there were large dark wings growing out and forming. My senses sharpened to painful levels, the sun was extremely harsh, I could smell things I could not recognise form many miles away, I heard every single insect buzz and thump along with any other creature within my new earshot range. The mental stimulation lasted for hours, I was unable to control any of it, the pain was the only distraction._

_ I opened my eyes, the pain finally ceasing. It was night time, there was a bright glowing white object in the sky; the moon, it was gentle on my optimized eyes. I slowly pushed myself off the grassy ground, feeling how cool the untouched areas were. I looked around weakly and pulled myself over to a nearby tree in which I relied on for support. I looked at my weak shaking body realizing that I was neither werewolf or vampire. I was just a hedgehog, with fangs similar to a vampire's. I however felt the werewolf part of me deeply hidden inside. I then instinctively looked up at the moon and studied its shape. It was in a crescent shape. Slowly relaxing, almost sighing in relief, I let my body go limp. I thought about the professor, and how worried he must be. He would be unable to find me, unable to trace me, I just simply disappeared. _I need to get back home, to ARK… To the professor… I want to see who this Shadow is going to be…_ I closed my eyes. _I'm going to need my strength back before I do anything else though… So I guess I'll just try to sleep here._ I attempted to find a comfortable spot to sleep in. Nothing truly sufficed, regardless, I fell asleep within due time._

_ The harsh sun woke me up, stimulating my sensitive senses. I hid in the shadow of the tree finding my body very sore and stiff. I attempted to let my eyes gently adjust to the light, but it was too much. I slowly stood, using the tree to aid me, and I kept my eyes down in the dark grass. I squinted and glimpsed up for a moment and decided to wander through the trees since the light would be blocked by the leaves of the trees. I then followed through and ventured into the unknown forest on an unknown world. My ears quickly perked hearing a noise that I have not heard, but sounded strangely familiar. I followed my ears and it lead me to a tree; there was a shiny red gem partially sticking out. I slowly grabbed it and pulled it out with ease. It glowed brightly and I felt Chaos Energy flow through my body from the gem, the words "Chaos Emerald" floated through my mind. In that moment everything seemed to click into place; I knew exactly what to do with it, I knew exactly how to use it, and I knew what I planned on doing with it. Closing my eyes and concentrating on ARK I summoned my strength to Chaos Control back to where I belonged; my home. _

_ I looked around, finding this light soften than the sun's light. I quickly realized I was in the room I was created in. I heard the professor calling for me, worry was in his voice. "Daddy…" My heart skipped a beat at his voice, excitement rippled through my body as I pushed it forward, running to him. I quickly tackled him into a hug; "Daddy!"_

_ "Cathy where have you been all this time? I've been worried sick, I couldn't find you anywhere." He hugged back._

_ "Why don't you ask Black Doom…" I mumbled gripping onto his lab coat._

_ "Black Doom…? What would he know about you being gone?" He questioned and pulled back, crouching down to my height._

_ "He dragged me to an escape pod and threw me in… He then sent it into space… I landed on a planet and… was attacked… now I'm a vampire and a werewolf…" I looked down, "I only was able to make it back here because of this; a Chaos Emerald…" I studied it, holding it tightly in the palm of my hand._

_ "Strange… I had that in my possession, it disappeared not too long ago. I had assumed someone on the ARK had taken it." The professor took it from me gently then looked up. He slowly stood and placed himself between Black Doom whom had walked in, and I._

_ "He's going to kill me…" I whispered and gripped onto the professor seeing the hate and disgust in Black Doom's eyes._

_ "Black Doom, as long as we are working together, and as long as you are aboard the ARK you are to work under my rules, and you are not to harm anyone on here, especially Cathy, Maria, and Shadow." The professor's voice was stern and strict. _

_ "Humph… Fine, let's just get to work already. He is barely created." Black Doom walked off towards project Shadow's vat. _

_ "Daddy…" I looked up at him, my eyes held some worry in them._

_ "It's okay Cathy… If you like you can come. I know he definitely won't hurt you around me." He held out his hand, "Besides, you will get to meet Shadow… He won't be conscious though, at least I don't believe he will be yet. Perhaps in the next couple of days he will be conscious." I took his hand as he gently lead me to Shadow._

_ Once we were there I looked at the vat. A black and red hedgehog remained unconscious in the green liquid the vat contained. I slowly went over to him and placed my hand gently on the glass as the professor and Black Doom went to work for hours._

_ "Cathy, you should get some rest. I'm leaving and Black Doom should be in his room so it should be safe for you to wander a little." The professor spoke softly._

_ "Okay… I'm going to stay here for a little while longer… He intrigues me." I curled up watching the unconscious hedgehog, studying his breathing and slight twitches._

_ "Okay, but don't stay up too late. You need your rest." The professor pushed._

_ I nodded and heard him leave. I remained consistent with watching him, I wondered what he would act like, I wanted to know his eye colour, I wanted to know if he would be nice like the professor or mean like Black Doom; I yearned to talk to him. I yawned a little getting tired, I also noticed the thirst in my throat getting worse. I rubbed my throat gently trying to somehow externally sooth it, however it did not aid me. _

_ "Who… are you…" I heard an unknown voice gently ask. It was smooth and on the deep side._

_ I looked up and saw two crimson eyes looking down at me, I could not help but smile. "I'm Cathy." I felt my tail wag._

_ He looked around a little and then looked back at me for a moment before closing his eyes. "Shadow…?" I spoke softly. _

_ He peeked one of his eyes open at me. "What do you want?" _

_ "How are you feeling? Is everything okay?" I asked smiling._

_ He nodded and closed his eyes once more. His breathing settled and he seemed to drift off into a peaceful slumber. I curled up, still excited that he woke up, my tail still wagging like a mad man. I curled up on the floor by the base of his vat and closed my eyes. I wished to sleep, but I felt I could not leave him here all alone as he was. I tossed and turned but I eventually succumbed to unconsciousness. _

_ I felt someone shaking me gently with the whisper of my name as I was brought back to a conscious state. I looked up tiredly seeing the professor hovering over me. I slowly back away and sat up. I blinked a few times and rubbed my eyes before yawning._

_ "Cathy… Why did you sleep here? I was worried you had disappeared again." The professor asked me gently._

_ "I didn't wanna leave Shadow… He woke up last night…" I muttered softly, not really in the mood for talking._

_ "He woke up? What did he say?" The professor asked curiously._

_ "He asked who I was. I told him my name. I asked if he was feeling okay and he nodded then fell asleep." I mumbled and closed my eyes. _I wanna sleep more…

_ "That's good." He peered over his shoulder to the door which had opened. Black Doom walked in. The professor stood and went and conversed with him._

_ I looked up at Shadow and watched his breathing trying to determine if he was asleep or awake. I sighed softly unable to tell and tried to study the rest of his body for clues; finding no hints, I just simply watched Black Doom and Gerald. They soon got to work on Shadow; I watched and tried to learn about what they were doing without asking any questions. _

_ My concentration was interrupted by the burn in my throat increasing; I found both Black Doom's and Gerald's scent quite delightful. I shook my head to try and snap out of it. "Daddy…" I mumbled softly._

_ He looked over, "What's wrong?" He asked._

_ I felt my fangs grow and I felt the wings of my vampire side sprout from my back; they were black demonic-bat like wings that had black and red feathers scattered throughout them. "H-help…" I held myself tightly, afraid of what was happening, afraid of what I might do. I tried to keep my thoughts straight, I could sense and hear their heart beats; I could feel my sanity slipping away._

_ I felt as if I was slowly losing controlling over my body, my mind; all I could really do was see, hear, and feel, everything else escaped control. I observed my body lunge at the professor, the nearest one to me. However, instead of contacting him I saw a black blur, next thing I was fully aware of was the taste of sweet delicious blood. I came to realize that Shadow was below me, pinned helplessly._

_ "Cathy… Control y-yourself… relax… Everything's going to be okay." He spoke softly into my ear._

_ I closed my eyes tightly, a few tears running out and soaking into his fur. I gulped down his precious blood, listening to him grunt in slight pain. I soon noticed a change in him. He was becoming weaker; I summoned the strength to remove my fangs. I glided my tongue over his wound, lapping up any blood that had escaped; I then noticed at that moment that his wound closed up, completely healed from that action. I slowly pulled back and looked into his eyes._

_ He looked into mine gently and then wiped my tears away. "It's okay… Apology accepted. I know that you never meant to, I can see it in your eyes." He pulled me down gently. My body laid on top of his, my face in his chest fur. I could feel his hand on the back of my head gently resting there. _

_ "Shadow, you shouldn't be out of your status tube, or pulling stunts like that." The professor told him softly. "I know you were just protecting me, but I can't have you dying or losing a lot of blood like that."_

_ "… I know…" He sat up while holding me. "I just… couldn't stand by and watch…"_

_ I sensed his energy level at this moment; it was critically low, very similar to mine when I used my powers without my inhibitor rings. I checked his wrists and ankles for them and found none. "D-… Professor… Shadow… He needs inhibitor rings…" I stared at the floor, trying to remain distant._

_ I noticed Shadow looking at me, I also sensed Gerald's stare. "Okay… I'll prepare some for him." He walked over and helped Shadow get up as his arms slipped off of me._

_ The professor put Shadow back in his vat where he belonged. I slowly stood and left as quickly as I could. Slowly but surely I made my way to the room that had been given to me. I locked myself in the room and hid underneath the blankets._ How can Shadow forgive me…

_ I laid there silently for awhile, lost in my own thoughts until I felt a shift within me. The werewolf inside me was stirring, I knew I was going to transform soon. A few minutes later the change initiated, my bones cracking and reforming like before until the conversion was completed. I whined softly and looked around a little. I noticed a dark figure in the mirror; startled I peered into it and saw an ebony black pelted wolf with crimson red eyes. I knew that it was I in the mirror. My ears folded back and I turned away. Slowly kicking the sheets back and then slipping under them as best as I could with the help of my muzzle, I tried to rest. _

_ The door squeaked open slowly alerting me to someone entering the room. I stuck the end of my muzzle out from underneath the blankets and smelled the air. _Black Doom…_My heart raced quickly, fear flooding every inch of my body. _What does he want!? Why is he in here!? _I questioned just before I felt him grab me and pull me out from under the sheets._

_ "A werewolf as well… How amusing." He held me up in the air by my hind paws. _

_ I tried to slip loose from his grasp, this only caused him to hold on tighter. He then glimpsed around for a quick second then tossed me into a wall; I smashed into it fairly hard, my head was the first thing to impact it. I felt disoriented for a few seconds then I heard a snap accompanied by sharp pain radiating from my left leg. Yelping in pain I attempted to dig my claws into the metal flooring and pull myself away, unfortunately I only slipped and slid a little when I made my attempt to escape. A dark laugh came from above, emitting from Black Doom. I looked up, the dark lighting only creating an image from a horror film, his eyes seemed to glow red, his body was strange and foreign due to his species, his overall aurora was eerie. _

_ "Do you really think you can escape?" He asked me as he pushed down on my back._

_ I tried to shake him off, the pressure in my spine getting increasingly worse until with a swift movement my spine snapped; I cried out from the intense agony while losing all feeling and control of anything below my waist. I still refused to give in and dug at the floor trying to pull myself forward with my front claws, they only scratched and slid along the flooring. _

_ "So pathetic." He mused, taking my arms and snapping them both. He then pushed me to the side and punched my ribs until they fractured under the constant impact. _

_ I coughed up blood trying to endure the beating, yearning for it to be over, whether death came first or not. The continual bashing lasted for hours, my body both sore and numb. Once it was approaching closer to morning he finished and left without another word. Even though Black Doom was gone and no physical contact was current, it seemed as if punches were still being inflicted._

_ Once it was truly morning, according to the clock the sat quietly in my room, I began to change back into a hedgehog, the pain more excruciating than usual, presumably due to the beating I endured throughout the night. I shivered slightly, chilled from not wearing any clothing. It was torn up when I had changed into a wolf. I let myself lie there helplessly, pondering if someone would find me. I closed my eyes gently and waited for unknown events to unfold._

_ An hour passed, someone finally walked into the room. My condition had worsened, breathing was difficult. "Cathy!?" I heard the professors voice call out. I slowly peeked open my eyes. _

_ "P-professor…" I squeaked out, followed by coughing up blood. _

_ He swiftly picked me up, I winced and grunted in pain as he hastily took me to my vat. He put me in carefully and began treating me medically. I found breathing easier in here, the pain seemed to float away. I soon found myself quite drowsy, my eyes having a hard time staying open; I gave into the calmness and closed my eyes. Sleep quickly grasped my being in a quick, subtle peacefulness. _

_ I opened my eyes to the dim light of night time aboard the ARK. "You finally woke up…" I heard Shadow close by, I then noticed a hand being placed on glass._

_ "Shadow… Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in your status tube…?" I asked quietly._

_ "It doesn't matter. The professor is worried about you, and… I don't want __**him**__ to interfere with you healing…" He looked away._

_ "Shadow… Get me out of here… Please…" I told him more than asked._

_ "No, the professor said that you need to stay in there until you are completely healed." He shook his head, "I'm sorry…"_

_ "Why are you here… besides what you told me…" I muttered._

_ "… I want to get to know you." He looked away once more._

_ I slowly focused and healed my body. I Chaos Controlled out and hugged him gently; "Well I can heal myself… and I have power over Chaos Energy… I can do a lot more, I can do anything I can imagine essentially." _

_ He looked at me gently then peered around. "Come… I want to show you something."_

_ I felt his hand gently grasp mine, I felt my face get hotter, signifying I was blushing; we walked hand in hand to a wide open room with a large window. Earth lay before us glowing radiantly; stars twinkled in the darkness creating a pure scene of beauty. I stood there in awe, unable to find any words for this scene. _

_ "It's amazing… isn't it? Maria showed me this yesterday when I snuck out." He held my hand a little tighter._

_ "I never talked to her or met her but the professor mentioned her to me." I muttered softly._

_ "Oh… She's a nice girl, and the professor's granddaughter." He looked at me gently._

_ "Okay… You know, I don't think I know who gave their blood to me when I was created. You have… __**him**__ but I have no idea who I had." I tilted my head slightly in pure curiosity._

_ "So we aren't related huh…?" He pondered out loud._

_ "No, we aren't." I looked at him._

_ I was pulled in close, Shadow's arms wrapping around my waist. I felt the blood rush to my face, "Wh-what are y-you doing?"_

_ "Relax…" He whispered softly and gently kissed me._

_ I closed my eyes, slowly returning the kiss, my arms wrapping around his neck. I found myself a little lost, my mind not fully thinking for once. My mind broke away from the stimulation when I felt my back hit up against a wall gently, I then resumed enthralling myself in the sweet kiss. He slowly pulled away allowing me to access my surroundings. My head was light, my heart beat quick and fluttered, and my tummy seemed to flutter as well. We then both looked one another, each of us studying the other's eyes. _

_ "Ah-ehm…" I jumped startled. I quickly looked over, whilst hiding behind Shadow and noticed the professor. I quickly wondered how much he witnessed. _

_ "P-professor… Um ah, she's all healed up…" His ears laid back a little._

_ "You shouldn't be out of your status tube, go back to it. Cathy I thought I said to treat him like a brother." The professor stated as if his own kids got into something and made a mess everywhere._

_ "I, but, he- I… We aren't related!" I panicked. _

_ He chuckled softly, "I know, it's fine… On a more serious note, however, if I had of been Black Doom things would have been a lot worse. Make sure you keep it very secret, I don't want either of you hurt or disappearing. By the way, Cathy?" He looked at me._

_ "Y-yeah…?" I stuttered out._

_ "How are you all healed up?" The professor asked me curiously._

_ "I healed myself…" I held tightly onto Shadow's arm._

_ "Ah. Very well then, don't stay up to late, and make sure he gets to where he belongs."_

_ I nodded gently to the professor before he took his leave. I looked at Shadow and walked with him to his vat. I helped him get in then closed his vat up; I wished to be closer to him. "Shadow…"_

_ "What is it?" He asked._

_ "When can we see one another again… alone?" I put my hand to the glass gently; he put his over mine. _

_ "I'm not sure… I will find you when it's safe, okay? Please be careful… I don't want to see you hurt… sister." He looked saddened. _

_ "I know… brother. I guess I'll go to sleep now too." I slowly let my hand drop from the cool glass._

_ "Okay…" He closed his eyes letting his hand fall into a resting position._

_ I regrettably left and carried myself to my vat. I slipped in without hesitation eager to sleep so I could hopefully see Shadow all that much sooner. Closing my eyes I attempted to sleep, however the eagerness and excitement stimulated my brain just enough to keep me awake. However, sleep itself is completely unavoidable and I eventually succumbed into a dream-filled sleep. _

_ I woke up rather early today, I presumed it was from the anticipation of seeing Shadow. I quickly Chaos Controlled out of my status tube and ran down the corridors until I was able to reach Shadow's whereabouts. I burst through the door and went straight to the vat. I looked up and noticed he was still peacefully asleep. I sat down and quietly waiting for him to show signs of consciousness. My tail wagged as I awaited showing how I felt. _

_ I perked up hearing the door open; looking back I saw the professor. "You're up early." He walked over and stretched a little. "You should be careful, what if Black Doom came here before me?" _

_ "I… I don't know…" My ears flattened, I held my body closer to me._

_ "I would have protected her…" Shadow spoke softly, just waking up. "He wouldn't have touched her, I wouldn't let him." He growled lowly._

_ "Shaddie…" I looked at him, "What if you got hurt, I don't want you hurt either."_

_ "I… I know, I… I just can't stand you being in pain… or… upset…" He looked away and put his hand on the glass._

_ I slowly placed my hand where his was and tried to get a good look at him. "Shadow…" I spoke softly. He looked at me, his ears lowered. "Please don't do anything dangerous."_

_ "But I need to protect you!" He urged._

_ I looked back at the professor, not really knowing what to say; I was completely flattered he cared so much, but I could not allow him to get hurt because of me. "Daddy…"_

_ At that very moment Black Doom walked in, silencing the room. Soon enough, the daily routine began; Black Doom and Gerald worked on Shadow, I sat close by, occasionally handing something to the professor, Shadow in his vat being worked on; all in all everything ran smoothly up until Black Doom left, his work finished for the day. The professor still lingered, he let Shadow out of his status tube._

_ "You should be fine to stay out for awhile. I would also like to test your capabilities Shadow. I would like to use both you and Cathy for this." He sat down and looked at us both. "I want you, Shadow, to 'attack' Cathy with your powers. She can block them, so don't worry. She can also absorb them."_

_ "Cathy, is this true?" He asked gently._

_ I nodded, "It's true." I knew well that the professor was right, and I also knew that he was aware of what I was capable of. _

_ "Catherine, why don't you protect yourself? I know you can, but what stops you from doing so?" The professor asked, using my full name. _

_ "Catherine…?" I heard Shadow mumbled; I temporarily ignored it._

_ "I don't like using my powers… I… I don't know… I don't think of them at the time… I… I'm… afraid…" I muttered and turned my back to everyone._

_ "Afraid? What are you afraid of child?" The professor asked me._

_ "… I don't know… Myself…? Everything…?" I mumbled._

_ "You don't need to be afraid. Maybe this session will also help you. We will both be here in case something happens, alright?" The professor reassured me._

_ "Okay…" I looked over to Shadow._

_ "Catherine? Isn't it supposed to be Cathy?" He asked._

_ "Well, when I first named her she said to just call her Cathy for short." The professor mumbled, "So yes, I suppose."_

_ "Oh…" He looked at the two of us, "When shall we start then?" _

_ "Now would be good." The professor gave us the go ahead._

_ "Cathy, let me know when you are ready, okay?" I nodded._

_ I put up a light see-through blue barrier around my body, "You're in the clear to do as you wish." I held the barrier up, keeping it strong._

_ Shadow used Chaos Spear, Chaos Lance, Chaos Blast, Chaos Rift, among other things on my, the barrier held strong and did not dissipate. After two hours we called it quits, the professor had seen enough and we were both starting to feel a little fatigue beginning to settle in. I slipped down to the floor, relaxing for a moment. _

_ "Are you alright Cathy?" He asked me softly and crouched down next to me. I nodded a little and hugged him. _

_ He smiled and sat down and held me; a gentle kiss on my cheek was placed by Shadow's lips. I blushed a little, a soft purr escaped from my lips. I rested my head softly against his chest and snuggled; happy as can be, I curled up and closed my eyes, listening to his heart beat. I felt his fingers run through my quills before petting me gently. I looked up into his eyes; they were soft and warm, gentle and caring. I quickly found myself mesmerized in them, unable to peer away. However, from the corner of my eye I noticed a small smirk, then he closed his eyes, I instinctively closed mine; a kiss quickly came. A few moments later my ear flicked hearing the door open and close; the professor had left and we were all alone._

_ "We are alone. I have you all to myself." He chirped happily, breaking away from the kiss only to nibble and kiss along my neck._

_ I shivered heavily and pulled him close to me, my fingers holding onto his fur tightly. I gasped softly when he found my sweet spot. Shivers ran through me, goose bumps following closely behind; a tingly feeling invaded quickly after. He soon tenderly gave me a hickey, the process of it causing slight shivers to ripple up and down my body. I lightly ran my hand through his chest fur before rubbing it and twisting the ends gently, occasionally tugging on it. His body heaved into mine and could not help but shiver; gently pushing me up against the wall he kissed my lips softly, I returned it, my heart pounding. _

_ I continued to toy with his chest fluff, sporadically pulling him closer by pulling on his fur. His shivering continued, I decided to rub his chest deeply and roughly now, smirking a little deviously as I did so. He pushed himself up against me with force and deepened the kiss; I playfully nibbled on his lips as he growled softly. He soon asked for entrance and I let him in; he delicately pulled my body closer, unable to get enough; he took initiative, wrapping my legs around his waist, the kiss enduring. _

_ He slipped his hand down to my ass gently caressing it, a small gasp escaped my lips, my back instantaneously arching out of reflex. He sensitively squeezed my cheek, a new sensation shuddered my body forcing me to jerk into Shadow; the sensation additionally caused goose bumps to form. _

_ He broke away for a moment, his hands slipped underneath my shirt and then lifted it up over my head exposing all but my breasts for they were hidden underneath a bra. He quickly unclasped it though, slipping it off of me with ease, exposing my bosom; I blushed a dark red as he moved to my pants. In a matter of seconds he had them unbuttoned and unzipped; I helped him slip them off along with my underwear; I took a few extra seconds to roll off my socks._

_ "You're beautiful." He admired my body, pulling back for a minute to just simply get lost in my beauty._

_ I felt my face flush a darker red, assuming it was possible; I slowly pulled myself into him and kissed him, my heart was racing both excited and nervous at the same time. He smiled into the kiss as he returned the favour and slowly embraced me. _

_ He muttered softly between kisses, "Shall we move to my bedroom?" _

_ I nodded swiftly, without further ado, he Chaos Controlled us to his bedroom, bringing my clothing as well. He then growled lovingly, and with a gentle push he sent me backwards into the bed. He then crawled over me, his member showing, clearly swollen with want; it glistened slightly in the dull light. Shadow quickly placed kisses along my chest, more goose bumps forming but only on the sight of impact. The kisses lowered from my breasts to my stomach then to my vulva; this started a heat to run through my veins, my heartbeat taking a different form._

_ His fingers delicately pushed aside my near symmetrical lips, I felt the cool air rush up against it, my muscles twitched slightly in response. I looked down at him for a moment to investigate what he was up to; his tongue glided over the bottom of my entrance all the way up to the hood of my clit. I gasped and could not help but try to squirm away, however, Shadow grabbed onto my legs and pulled my pelvic closer. He licked my now moist inner lips a few more times before turning his attention to my tiny, hidden pearl. He pulled at my folds until it peeked out from its hiding spot; he licked it once causing my body to jerk from the unusual stimulation. He quickly and tenderly nibbled on it before sucking it eagerly._

_ "Shadow…!" I breathed out heavily and gripped onto the bed tightly. Shivers ran all throughout my body, I curled my toes and grabbed onto the back of Shadow's head and gripped onto his quills._

_ The sensitivity grew with each passing moment, I felt tingles of excitement ripple through me, my lips began to feel wetter with each suck. I gasped softly and tried to move a little, Shadow just pinned my lower half down so he could do as he seen fit. I bit down on my lip, pulling at it fairly hard with my teeth, I endured the need to squirm this way._

_ He eventually let my clit go free; I let a heavy breath out as he climbed over me and slipped himself in. "Ah!" I gasped feeling his groin bumped up against my clit allowing me to forget about the slight pain that fizzled out in only a few seconds. _

_ His lips crashed down on mine as he locked my legs around his body. I kissed him passionately, his hips began to move, thrusting into my body; I gasped softly a few more times as each jolt of pleasure shook my body. I wrapped my arms around him and pushed my chest into his; hands slipped up along my sides to my breasts, my nipples were pinched, and my breasts were squeezed. _

_ With each thrust the pleasure grew; Shadow now kissed along my neck, I dug my fingers into his fur and gripped it tightly. My breathing became heavier and I reached a peak that caused me to moan, my back arched and my hips buckled; I heard Shadow moan softly in response to my quivers. However, Shadow kept pounding into me, I cried out in pleasure, Shadow's hands pinning my body down against the soft bed. I found myself quickly coming to another peak of pleasure; just like before I moaned, my muscles contracted, and the sensitivity increased. I found myself moaning with each movement Shadow made, I pulled at his chest fur roughly._

_ "Oh my god don't stop! More more more more! Please more! Fuck me harder! Don't stop! Please more!" I begged him._

_ He grunted, obeying my command; I cried out his name, the speed and power behind each thrust was overwhelming. The arches of my feet tingled hot yet cold, I breathed heavily my body becoming tingly and hot, but cold as well. I cried out Shadow's name, my back arching full force, my toes curling, each muscle clenching; I could not breathe but at that moment nothing mattered except for the pleasure that rocked my body, shock waves were sent through me from head to toe; I never wanted it to end, it was so different from what I had experienced moments before. In the middle of all this I barely acknowledged Shadow as he cried out, reaching his own peak, his member fully inside me. I soon regained my breath and panted; he slipped his penis out and I moaned softly, clearly over-sensitive from the stimulation. _

_ He laid himself down next to me and wrapped his arms around me tightly. "I love you." He softly kissed my cheek._

_ I pulled myself closer to him, "I love you too." I panted, my body was shaking; I closed my eyes finding myself very satisfied and quite tired._

_ "Rest," He covered our bodies with the sheets of the bed, "you need it. I'll either be here, or in my status tube when you wake." He closed his eyes then lightly stroked my quills._

_ "Mph…" I curled up a little more getting comfortable. I soon found myself unconscious. _

_ I woke to a warm bed, I shuffled a little and opened my eyes. Shadow was laying there, his breathing light, clearly unconscious. I smiled and stroked his cheek, he stirred a little and opened his eyes. He looked at me, his eyes soft, and still tired looking; he placed his forehead against mine and closed his eyes once more. I smiled and closed my eyes; I listened to the light hum of electricity. _

_ "Hey Shadow… Promise me you will never leave me." I hugged him tightly._

_ "Cath, I promise I will never leave you. You should have known that before now." He nuzzled me._

_ "I love you." I kissed him._

_ "I love you too." He kissed back passionately. I became startled and broke off from the kiss when a knock emitted from the door's speaker. Shadow got up and pressed a button to activate his side of the speaker. "Who is it?" Shadow asked calmly._

_ "It's just me. Just wanted to make sure you were okay. I can't find Cathy." The professor talked through the door with a little speaker._

_ "Don't worry. She's just in here with me." He motioned for me to quickly get myself dressed._

_ I slipped over to my clothing and stopped time. Dressing myself within ninety seconds, I hugged onto Shadow's arm, time returning to normal. I looked at Shadow and nodded to him, signalling I was ready._

_ Shadow opened the door and let the professor in and glimpsed to each end of the hall way. "He's not around is he?" _

_ "No, he's still in his room as far as I can tell." The professor looked at the two of us then shut the door behind him. "I also need to tell the two of you something."_

_ "What is it?" Shadow asked._

_ "Shadow, I know I already mentioned to you some of the reasons as to why I created you, however I excluded one of them. The other reason why I created you was to actually be Cathy's friend, or more, if the two of you seen fit." He explained._

_ I blushed and held onto Shadow's arm more, "Thank you…" I muttered softly. Shadow looked at me then slowly pulled my body against his._

_ "Well, Shadow, we should get to work. I still have things to do with you." He reopened the door and walked through it. _

_ Shadow slowly slipped away and followed the professor. I slowly tagged along, staying close to Shadow; I looked around a little paranoid. Shadow looked back at me and slowly grasped my hand, I felt a little reassured. He smiled softly before looking towards the direction he was going. We soon reached where Shadow's vat was located; we walked through the doors and I slipped my hand away from Shadow's and went into a corner in the room. Sitting in a ball-like position, I watched the Professor prepare for today's work. _

_ Not too long later, Black Doom came through as he usually did but I felt high tension in the air between him and Shadow. I wondered if he knew anything about us, and if he did how he knew. As far as I could recall he did not see us or have any contact with us when we were being more intimate. _

_ "I want to talk to Shadow, alone." Black Doom spoke in a monotone sequence. _

_ "Um… Okay, but I can only give you five minutes." The Professor looked at everyone in the room a little worriedly._

_ Every fibre of my being was telling me that I had to stop this, Black Doom wanting to talk to Shadow was very bad. I slowly got up and got between Black Doom and Shadow; shaking I stared at Black Doom, my fists clenched and shaking. "I object." _

_ "Get out girl, no one cares what you think." Black Doom growled lowly._

_ "Cathy-" The professor started_

_ "I said __**no**__ to __**you**__ speaking with him. __**Leave, now.**__" I growled lowly._

_ "Watch your mouth, and I won't be the one leaving." He growled and lifted his arm. The professor quickly got in between Black Doom and I._

_ "Okay okay, calm down you two." He stared at Black Doom._

_ Black Doom growled lowly, he walked past us and went to Shadow; taking him out of the vat, Black Doom induced Chaos Control, the both of them disappearing. I panicked, "No no no no no…" I looked around quickly wondering where Black Doom would have taken Shadow._

_ "Hey relax, ssshhhhhhh." The professor grabbed onto my shoulder gently._

_ "Something bad is going to happen, I can't let anything happen, not to Shadow, I need to find him." My breathing was quick and sharp; Gerald grabbed onto me and hugged me, a few tears slipping from my eyes._

_ "It's okay, nothing bad is going to happen, alright?" The professor rubbed my back._

_ "Y-you promise?" I held onto him._

_ "Yes, I promise." He continued rubbing my back until I was calm. _

_ A light emitted in the room, I looked over and saw Black Doom and Shadow had returned. Shadow slowly went into his vat then fell asleep without a word. I looked at him, sensing something was not right. I looked over to Black Doom who seemed to have an implied despicable grin composed on his face._

_ "Well professor, let's get back to work." Black Doom continued on with what he was doing before he Chaos Controlled away with Shadow. The professor did the same. I sat back down in my corner and watched until long after they were gone._

_ My ears perked up as Shadow woke. I smiled and went in front of his vat, my tail swaying, "Shaddie!" I chirped._

_ "Um… Who… are you?" He asked._

_ I looked at him weirdly, a knife felt as if it stabbed through my heart. "Shadow, it's me… Cathy… Your big sister…" my ears flattened. I felt my stomach knot and twist, I began feeling sick, my heart raced. _

_ "I've never seen you before. Are you sure you aren't confusing me with someone else?" He asked and looked around._

_ I looked down, tears started swelling in my eyes, they quickly over flowed. I slowly turned around and ran out the door, I heard "Hey wait!" as the last words of our conversation. I slowed myself to a walk at the end of the hallway, my eyes too blurred to see where I was going properly. I stumbled down the hallway for awhile until I bumped into something. I looked up to see what, or who, it was. _

_ "Cathy…? Hey what's wrong? What are you crying for?" The Professor asked._

_ "Y-you w-were w-wrong…" I grabbed onto his hand and showed him what Shadow said; I could not bear to speak._

_ His eyes widened, "What did Black Doom do…?" He quickly went off towards Shadow's status tube, I hesitantly followed him, trying to keep my eye sight clearer. _

_ Once we where there Gerald went to work immediately. "Professor… I thought we were done for the day, this isn't your usual hours… Who is that girl? Is she okay?" He looked at me then back to the Professor._

_ "I just need to um… adjust a few things." He looked at Shadow then to me before resuming whatever he was trying to do._

_ After a bit the professor spoke quietly, "I'm sorry, but at this time I don't believe I can fix his memory… I'm sorry…" His voice was apologetic._

_ I gripped onto myself tightly, Chaos Controlled to my room and dived into my bed. I closed my eyes tightly and burrowed my face into my pillow, sobbing. Pain and hate burned deeply in my core, I tried to deal with the mix of emotions. I eventually just gave in and cried; however this instigated a headache. I slowly succumbed to sleep, unwilling to do anything else. _

_ I woke up feeling nauseated; I quickly ran to the bathroom and vomited into the toilet. I groaned softly and held my stomach; _am I getting sick?_ I pondered. I adjusted my position and puked once more, starting to feel a little better. I slowly stood after a bit;_ I should get Daddy to look at me, just in case something is wrong._ I made my way to his office, I was in luck since he was still there._

_ "Daddy…" I muttered a little. "I don't feel so great."_

_ "What happened? Is this about last night?" He asked._

_ I shook my head a little, "I'm puking… Not sure why…" I sat down in a nearby chair. _

_ Gerald came over and did a quick check up. "Everything seems fine. You don't seem like you have the flu. I could run a blood test or something, make sure everything there is okay." I nodded a little._

_ He took some of my blood and ran some tests. Approximately fifteen minutes later, the results were in; the professor sighed and ran his hand along his face then along his moustache. He looked at me and then looked at the results, contemplating._

_ "What?" I asked quietly, my voice filled with sadness._

_ "Um… Well… You're pregnant… I'm just going to go ahead and assume it's with Shadow." He then added, muttering softly, "I can't believe that happened so fast…"_

_ "I wait, what?! But, I, we only did it the night before last night! That's impossible isn't it?!" I looked at my stomach._

_ "Well, not exactly. With the mutations you endured, as well as the way both you and Shadow were created and how I did it, including your genes, and so on, the period in which the baby will develop will be much fast, and much different from any normal pregnancy. This certainly is fascinating." He looked at the results again._

_ "… Shadow… He doesn't even remember me… The baby won't even have a father…" I curled up, tears streaming down my face. "Black Doom needs to pay, he needs to die… I'm going to kill him." I became angry very quickly, a dark aurora encased itself around me._

_ "Cathy, calm down. No one will be killing anyone, even if that someone is Black Doom." He hugged me. "I'll keep trying to fix Shadow's memory okay?"_

_ I slowly starting sobbing again and nodded. I closed my eyes trying to calm down and contain myself. I slowly began getting another headache once more; I allowed myself to drift into sleep, the only salvation I had._

_ I awoke, looking around I realized I was in my room. I wasn't sure what time it was until I sat up and looked around. _Night._ I dimly thought before falling back on the bed; I looked down at my stomach, there was a small bump notifying me that the baby was growing very quickly, and well. All of a sudden an alarm went off. Jumping out of bed, I ran into the hallway. I heard some gun fires. I ran towards where the shots were fired, wondering what was going on. _

_ "Cathy watch out! Run!" The professor called out._

_ I looked over and noticed G.U.N. soldiers. I began to run towards the Professor, my heart racing. Fear held me in its grasp; _What's happening?! Who are these people and why are they here? Why do they have guns and for what purpose?_ I heard shots fire and everything after that was completely black, and empty._

~23~


	2. Chapter 4

_ Chapter Four_

I jumped up coming back to reality, sweat poured off of me; I flinched seeing movement and jerked away when I felt a light touch to my arm. "Hey take it easy… relax… You were really out of it for hours." I heard Shadow's voice.

"I'm… alive…? How am I… alive…?" I looked at my hands.

"What are you talking about?" He looked at me, wondering what I meant.

"You… still don't… remember…" My voice got quieter as I went on, "The baby… It's… dead…" I felt a tear trickle down my right cheek.

"Huh?" He looked completely lost as to what I was murmuring. I slowly put my hand on either side of his head. "Hey wh-!" He grunted as I realized what the problem was with his memory, what Black Doom had done to him. I resolved the issue; he grunted and gripped his head tightly, dealing with the flood of memory coming back to him. Several minutes later he slipped back to reality. "C-Cathy…?" I hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go.

"I… Yeah I guess I am." I closed my eyes, letting my head rest against him.

"You're… so different. I… I'm sorry that I lost my memory… like that… You must have felt so alone…" He stroked my quills.

"At the time… I suppose I did. I don't have to feel alone anymore now though." I looked up at him, "I-if you don't hate me… If you even accept me, like you did… I'm so different…" I gripped onto his chest fur tightly.

"Of course I don't hate you, I could never hate you, and of course I accept you… It's just that you used to be so reserved now you speak your mind so much more… It's… just not what my memory is used to. That doesn't mean how I felt changed, I still love you." He held onto me tightly.

I smiled and hid in him, "Let's not really tell Abraham this. At least for now."

"Understood, my love." He kissed my cheek then smoothly ran his thumb along my other cheek. He then moved his hand down to my chin and gently grabbed hold of it, forcing me to look up. A kiss filled with passion landed upon my lips. I responded and kissed back with just as much passion.

After a little bit we broke off and stared into one another's eyes. "I feel happier now that I remember, now that I'm with you." I spoke softly.

He smiled, "I haven't felt like this since when we were together on ARK. I actually feel… happy." He brushed my bangs to the side.

"Shadow, come in, Shadow." My ear flicked, hearing Rouge on the other end.

With a sigh he responded, "What is it Rouge?"

"G.U.N. is under attack, we've fallen back into the building but I don't think we will be able to hold it for much longer." Rounds could be heard going off in the background.

"I'll be there almost immediately, sit tight." He grabbed a couple of guns quickly from his closet in his room aboard the ARK.

"Who would attack G.U.N.?" I asked and was handed a gun by Shadow.

"Besides the Doctor, I don't know. Chaos Control!" He brought us back to G.U.N. I quickly ducked and was pulled to cover by Shadow. The complete base was a disaster and almost in total ruin.

Rouge rolled over and took cover along side us; "I think it's the good ol' Doctor, but this seems different, I have reason to believe that he is working along side someone." Rouge peeked towards the enemy.

I took a quick look, the enemy consisted of Eggman's robots, but in the back of my mind I knew he wouldn't have made it this far to overpowering us and essentially taking over the fort. "I think you're right Rouge. If this was just Eggman he should have been fairly easily eliminated by now."

"Then I guess that just leaves it to who is truly behind this." Rouge glimpsed back to the enemies once more.

"I'll take care of this quickly." I muttered and slowly began to stand.

Shadow pulled me down, "No you don't I am not losing you! Not when I just got you back!"

I looked at him and smiled a little, "I'm glad you care but I'll be okay. Don't worry, I'm not the scared little girl I used to be, okay? You won't lose me."

"Um… What's going on between the two of you?" Rouge asked.

"Ah… Let's take care of the issue before we even begin to discuss that, Rouge." Shadow glimpsed at her then looked back to me, "Are you sure you can handle this?"

"Yes Shadow; I have barrier's and I can absorb anything they throw at me. Don't worry, okay?" I stroked his cheek softly for a brief moment.

I stood putting up a strong force field and walked out. As I walked past anything that dared to touch me, and anything that was close enough just instantly fell apart and disintegrated into dust. I soon got close enough to Eggman to speak with him, however I was not close enough to destroy his machine, nor harm him.

"Ah, hello my spiny friend." He tapped his fingers, his voice held curiosity.

"Hello, Eggman. I suggest you leave or I'm afraid I'll have to put you in your place." I warned.

"Oh? What place do you speak of?" He questioned, amused.

"Well, there are many places I could put you: hell, in a cell in the most defended prison, or perhaps somewhere a little more cruel…" I studied my surroundings for a brief moment; I destroyed what was left of his robots.

He chuckled, his fingers snapped and a net flew around my barrier and wrapped itself around it. Small lightning-like bolts of electricity came from the contact, then all of a sudden the barrier collapsed; completely shocked and in disarray I found myself tangled in the rope which tightened around me until moving was rather difficult.

"What the hell is this?!" I growled, trying to break free. I attempted to use my powers, everything failed. "I don't understand why can't I do anything?"

"Cathy!" Shadow ran over looking at Eggman, his eyes were fiery and cold.

"No get away! Get to cover! Don't touch the net, don't get caught in one!" I told him, I tried to reach my knife.

"Now why would I let her go, Shadow?" He seemed amused with all of this.

"… I… If you let her go I'll do whatever you want, just please leave her alone…" Shadow looked down.

"You idiot what are you doing?!" I growled.

"Say quiet." Shadow snapped at me quietly.

"Hmm… I don't know… She's more powerful than you are. I could really conquer the world with her; everyone, no, everything will bow before me!" He laughed manically.

I reached my knife with a great deal of struggle. I tried to cut along the rope and felt extreme pain from the net as I did so. I yelped and closed my eyes tightly, the net gripping tighter. I felt a few tendrils brush against my skin; to my horror I realized that the net was a _living_ creature.

"Sh-Shadow! Get this thing off me get it off get it off get it off! Shoot it kill it!" I panicked and felt fear for the first time in a long time.

"Kill it…?" He looked at the net carefully, his eyes widening, "What in the hell…? Doctor get it to let go of her!" He shouted at him, "Now!"

I looked over and saw a strange alien similar in some ways to Black Doom come from the shadows. "Shadow The Hedgehog… I am sorry but I cannot allow it. I am Nurki. This man was kind enough to bring you to us, and this man shall have her as his reward. I am a species cousin to your bloodline. I was told that you have committed the highest treason and murder capable of in our rules." He explained. "Additionally, do not worry, unlike your more savage bloodline, we survive off of energy more like a parasite. We do not harm our… 'hosts'. Your friend will be fine once my little pet is removed; she should have full control and capabilities tomorrow evening or the day after anywhere from early morning to noon on this planet. If he is to be removed later the time would obviously have extended to some degree. Now, for a more pressing matter, we are here to take you and trial you for the crimes you have committed. Please, come quietly, let's not make anything worse than it has to be. If you don't come quietly, I will not ensure that this man stops his assault on this building."

His ears flattened against his head, his head lowered; he slowly moved towards Nurki and accepted arrest. Some other similar looking creatures came and took Shadow away. Nurki walked over and picked me up; I glared at him, my eyes filled with complete detest for him.

"I'm sorry young one." In a flash of Chaos Control, Nurki, Eggman, and I were all in Eggman's base. "Doctor Eggman, as long as we are here, while we are doing Shadow's trials, you may use my pet as you please. It does drain energy from its hosts, but it doesn't use all of it at once, there is a 'storage' area it uses. Now, you can tap into this storage and gather pure Chaos Energy from it, if that is what you wish, as well as keeping her under control. Her power is great, it would be unwise to not keep it under control, or surveillance." He put me down in one of Eggman's cells. He locked it up before speaking once more, "With that, I will take my leave. Enjoy your reward." He waved, walking a little distance before disappearing in Chaos Control.

I watched as the net pulled back and formed into a bracelet that held firmly onto my left wrist. I tried to pull it off but it just caused a pinch of pain so I ceased immediately. Eggman began working for a little while before hooking up a weird system to the odd alien creature in order to access its storage area and collect the energy it had received from me. Once Eggman left I quickly pulled out my knife once more; I knew it wasn't a great idea but I tried to cut the strange creature off. Each time I tried pain radiated through me, and each time I had to take a few minutes breather.

A sick thought crossed my mind; _If I cut off my arm… the creature attached to it wouldn't be sucking away my energy. All I have to do is escape before it reattaches. _Desperately, I held my knife approximately a foot above my arm as it rested against the cell bars; I shook at the thought, but I squeezed my eyes closed and went to begin cutting off my arm. I felt my arm stop and pull away, as if I had no control over it, pain exploded throughout my body; I cried out and collapsed gasping for breath. I dropped my knife curling up, hot tears began running down my face. _Please just get off… Please, don't hurt or take away Shadow…_ I laid there for an indeterminate amount of time.

I heard footsteps slowly approach my cage. I heard the door open and someone walk in, "Cathy… Please tell me you're awake…" I heard Shadow's voice murmur softly.

"Shadow!" I sat up quickly and hugged him extremely tightly. He hugged back, his fingers gripping onto me tightly; I gripped onto him as well, not wanting to let go. "Please don't leave!"

"I don't want to leave… I only have a few minutes to be here… I need you at the trial, and I need Rouge and Omega, along with some others from G.U.N." He pulled back a little and looked into my eyes. "You've been crying…"

I looked him over quickly and noticed the same strange creature wrapped around his wrist area. "You have that _**thing**_ attached to you too?" I shuddered.

"Yeah…" He sighed. "Cathy… Once the trial is over how about we go away somewhere far away… Somewhere hidden, somewhere no one can find us… Just for a little while."

I smiles and hugged him tightly, "I'd love that…" I nuzzled him lovingly.

"Shadow, it's time." I heard Nurki state.

"No please just a little longer…" I held onto Shadow tighter.

"Hey it's okay… you have to be at my trial remember, so we won't be far apart." He pet my head gently.

"Stupid alien, if you harm him, kill him, or anything, I promise you I **will** get free, I **will** hunt you down_and_ I will **kill** you along with your species. Do you understand me, _**Nurki**_?" I growled lowly, my words were filled with detest.

"By chance are you the one who Black Doom took a disliking to aboard ARK?" Nurki asked.

"Yes, _what about it?"_ I spat.

"You have a rather large hatred is all, I figured there must have been more to make you feel that anger and hate than just the recent events may have caused." He motioned for us to get up.

Shadow slowly stood, helping me to my feet. I picked up my knife putting it in its sheath before holding onto Shadow's hand and following Nurki to where the trial's whereabouts. It was located not too far from G.U.N.'s base. I gripped onto Shadow's hand tighter; examining my surroundings, I noticed there were quite a few other aliens that were clearly under Nurki's ranks. I looked around a little more and saw Omega, Rouge, and a small group of humans sitting together.

I looked at Shadow just before he looked at me, "Go join Rouge and Omega, okay? I'll be fine." He slowly slipped his hand from mind taking his place.

I slowly went and joined Rouge and Omega as he told me to. I curled up in a chair next to Rouge. She glimpsed at me for a moment then looked to Shadow. The trial began, it was boring, just stating facts and things from the past such as when Black Doom tried to destroy the world for food, when Shadow murdered Black Doom, and destroyed what he thought was all of his bloodline. He then spoke of his G.U.N. mission to destroy the meteor heading towards Mobius and the events that happened there. Rouge, Omega, and the small group of humans added their sides of the story as to what had happened.

"Cathy, do you have anything to say?" Nurki asked me.

I looked over at him, my face portrayed boredom. "I think this is a waste of time. Shadow may have killed Black Doom and most of the… 'colony' on the Black Comet, but what he did was right. It was probably just under seven billion people on that planet so if he had to kill one thousand flesh eating aliens so what? He saved more lives than he killed, especially in the long run. They would not have stopped there, with the humans, they would have kept searching for more civilizations in which they could devour to gain nutrients. Survival of the fittest, in those scenarios Shadow, humans, Mobians, whoever… they turned out to be more worthy of living. Such is the way of nature."

"So you find him not guilty?" He asked.

I sighed, "No, I'm saying he did it, but he shouldn't be thrown in jail or anything. He's not a psychopath, he's a protector. You may not see it that way since those aliens had a vague bloodline with you, but when it really comes down to it, you should be glad they are dead. You won't have any 'food shortages' since everyone will be alive. You could take energy from this world until everyone dies out from natural causes, or the sun exploding. Black Doom's bloodline's death means your survival. You have more civilizations to invade than you would have, than you did all thanks to Shadow, actually."

"You're sick." He sighed.

"No, nature is. If nature was supposed to be gentle, beautiful, and lawful then it would have been. It's not; it's sick, twisted, demented: whoever triumphs whether or not it was foul play, they will survive and the weak will die. That's all there is to it. Oh, and I would like to add that Shadow should be trialed by human laws since he is of Earth, or Mobius, however you want to look at it, and not of… whatever the hell you things are." I tapped my foot.

"We are getting off topic." He growled.

"Not exactly." I argued.

"Jury, discuss the trial, come back once you have an answer." He ordered the aliens standing not too far from us.

They left my seat and I went over to Shadow, hugging him tightly. "Hey…" I nuzzled him softly.

"You really do speak your mind now… So unlike before…" He held me closely, pulling me into his lap. "Everything is going to be okay…" He stroked my quills, brushing them out of my face.

"Do you really think so?" I asked him, snuggling up against him.

"If something goes wrong I promise I will make it right, okay?" He asked, stroking my cheek.

"Okay." I ran my hand through his chest fur, a light blush formed on his cheeks. I smiled and kissed him gently.

He kisses back for a few moments before breaking off and holding my hand, his arm wrapped around me. He looked up seeing Rouge. "Since when did the two of you become love birds."

"Shortly after Shadow was created I suppose. However, his memory was… 'modified' by Black Doom so he didn't remember me. I died soon after, but I'm alive now, somehow… I don't know how, and I'm still missing some memories. That's a different thing though; Once Shadow and I both remembered our pasts we hooked up again… I'm happy to have him back." I explained and held a little tighter onto Shadow.

Shadow smiled and nuzzled my neck before speaking, his lips slightly brushing up against my skin causing shivers to run down my spine; "I'm happy to have you back too you know. So please, don't do anything too rash. I'll get you away from Eggman as soon as I can. Rouge, you and Omega, please, if something happens and I can't do anything to save her, do it for me."

"I will but what about you? We are not going to leave you locked up somewhere, or worse, killed." She told him flat out, "So if we have to save your ass first then we are going to get you first, then we can all go save her from Egg-head."

"B-" Shadow began I covered his mouth.

"If you get killed… I… I feel like my sense of living would be lost, so… If it means life or death, your going to take the life option no matter what okay? So if it means they have to save you first, they are going to do it first." This whole conversation was at a volume level in which Nurki could not hear.

"The jury is in." One of the members of the alien race spoke out.

"We find Shadow guilty, however we will not charge him; he was under human rule at all times, and he was also never aware of our species rules." Another member spoke.

I smiled, and nuzzled Shadow, "You were right." I happily cried out.

"I told you everything would be okay. Did you doubt me?" He asked.

"Maybe a little bit…" I muttered apologetically.

"Well… I guess this trail is dismissed. Shadow, we will leave, however, one day we may return." He looked at the two of us then came over. "Young one, I need to return you to that man now and I will need my 'pets' back." He stroked the strange creatures and they just folded off falling into his hands gently. I rubbed my wrist and examined it. Three miniscule holes were the only evidence of the creature's presence. He grabbed my hand gently and Chaos Controlled us to my cell then disappeared without another word. I looked around, locked in a cell, alone; I examined the door trying to see if I could pick the lock.

"Shadow… Please don't make me wait too long…" I sighed softly wondering what would happen if I picked the lock. I looked up and noticed some wires connected to the cell. I followed them with my eyes finding an alarm system. I slowly slid down to the floor and waited, knowing my Chaos Energy was not at a level in which I could use.

My ear flicked as someone came into the room. I curled up a little more, my eyes closed. I heard them stop at me cell door and open it, "Cath?" I heard Shadow whisper.

I looked back at him tiredly, "Hey little brother…" I slowly got to my feet. I was hugged instantly. "Mph…" I hugged back; "Shaddie snugglie…" I yawned.

"You're cute when you're tired." He smiled. I blushed, his arms picking me up and holding me in bridal style. He carried me out of the base with ease, there were no signs of robots and there were no signs of Eggman either.

"Shaddie… Where is Eggy?" I nuzzled his neck lightly.

"I don't know but he left with his robots not too long ago which meant I had a huge opening to come get you." He kissed my forehead.

I smiled, "So where are we going to go…" I asked.

"I'm not sure yet. Is there anywhere in particular you always wanted to visit?" He was leading us back to G.U.N.

"New Zealand, but that is also on Earth… So we could go there or find the Mobius' equivalent to it." I looked up at the dark, cloud filled sky.

"Okay." He replied simply, soon entering the base of G.U.N.

"Cathy, Shadow, in my office." Abraham appeared to be waiting for us.

I whined, "Oh shut up and leave us alone." Shadow chuckled softly.

"I really shouldn't have taught you to be like that…" He sighed, "Either way we still need to discuss things." He lead us to his office, Shadow followed, I, still in his arms.

Shadow sat down gently, refusing to let go of me. "What is this about?" He asked calmly.

"I was watching the trail an I couldn't help but notice you two having a relationship. So whatever this is, it's obviously not supposed to happen in a work place." He sat down.

"Oh big deal, you can take your rules and shove them up your ass." I growled lowly. "Neither of us are quitting, and neither of us are terminating the relationship. Deal with it old man."

"Stop talking to your superior like that." He was starting to get fed up.

"Then shut up and leave us alone." My tail flicked getting a little aggressive.

"You're lucky I can't fire you." He held his head.

I stuck my tongue out at him then clung onto Shadow. "By the way, Shadow and I are going on vacation. I don't know when we will be back or whatever but we are disappearing for a bit." I notified him.

"Fine whatever, just try to not jeopardize anything over your relationship." He dismissed us.

"I'm aware." Shadow stated; standing he brought us to my room at G.U.N.

He gently laid me down on the bed then laid next to me. I snuggled and closed my eyes, feeling the sheets wrap over me. A small smile appeared on my face, a kiss on the forehead came directly after.

"Goodnight, my love." I heard Shadow whisper softly. It was the last thing I heard before falling into slumber.


End file.
